University Stonehill College Athletic director Dean O'Keefe Varsity teams 18 | NCAA Division II Location Easton, Massachusetts | |
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Conference Northeast-10 Conference | ||
The Stonehill Skyhawks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Stonehill College, located in Easton, Massachusetts, in NCAA sporting competitions. All Skyhawk athletic teams compete at the Division II level and are members of the Northeast-10 Conference. Stonehill has been a member of the NE-10 since 1980.
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Skyhawks nickname
In late 2002, The Strategic Planning Committee determined that the then-current Stonehill College mascot, the chieftain, was politically incorrect as it was reportedly disrespectful to American Indians , though the name Chieftain also has connections to the large Irish American population of the school, and decided that it would be changed. The committee ruled that a new mascot be named as the institution's athletic identity. Therefore, in the following year the college held open forums in which students, alumni, and faculty were asked to submit ideas for the new identity, vote on suggestions, and gauge popularity. Among popular choices were The Stonehill Summit, The Stonehill Skyhawks, The Stonehill Saints, The Stonehill Wolfpack, The Stonehill Crusaders, The Stonehill Mission, The Stonehill Shovelmakers, and The Stonehill Blizzard.
During the fall semester of the 2005 academic year Stonehill College officially changed the name of its athletic teams to the "Stonehill Skyhawks," with a brand new mascot known as 'Ace', an anthropomorphic purple hawk wearing a scarf, goggles, bomber jacket, and an aviator cap. The actual name 'Skyhawks' is not a reference to either a bird or animal. After the school's property was bought by the Congregation of Holy Cross, the airfield was leased to the Navy during World War II and private companies before and after the war until it was closed in 1955 due to increasing student enrollment. The Navy used the field for training exercises and would employ the Skyhawk aircraft between 1954–1995.
Facilities
The Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex is home to the College staff that sponsors eight intercollegiate club teams featuring Ultimate Frisbee, Rugby, Lacrosse and Golf as well as an extensive intramural sports program offering Basketball, Soccer, Floor Hockey and Flag Football.
W.B. Mason Stadium is a 2,400 seat, multipurpose sports stadium. Opened in 2005 at a cost of $4 million, it is the home of Skyhawk football, lacrosse, field hockey, and track & field. W.B. Mason, an office-supplies dealer based in nearby Brockton, Massachusetts, and its alumni employees contributed $1.5 million toward the project.
The stadium was dedicated on September 10, 2005. The playing field is named Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field, in honor of a 1980 Stonehill alumnus and football captain who was killed when the North Tower of the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001.
Most of the seating is bleacher-style; the two midfield sections have stadium seating with seat-backs.
After the stadium's formal dedication on September 10, 2005, Stonehill defeated Pace University 17–13 in the first football game played in the new stadium.
Football
On Saturday September 8, 2012, the Skyhawks defeated Southern Connecticut State University for the first time in 15 years, by a score of 13–0. In addition to breaking the losing streak, Stonehill also became the first team to shutout the Owls in 12 years.
On Thursday, October 18, 2012, Stonehill hosted the University of New Haven Chargers in Stonehill's first ever nationally televised football game, broadcast as part of CBS Sports Network's Thursday night Division II game of the week. The game drew an overcapacity crowd that saw heavily favored New Haven win 45–41 on a last-second touchdown pass.